New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-05-04
HISTORICAL PICTURES.
IN. DLAINE's SPEECHES AND PAPERs-A
WONDER WORKING PERIOD.

B.u fuDnshluS &c.
There are persons who complain that the age OF
heroic deeds and world forming events lies far in
the misty distance. Yet economists know that
sciences and industry have literally created new
world within the past twenty-seyen years The
soldier knows that twice within that period, oy
the greatest conflicts recorded In human histof
the art of war has been revolutionized. And no
thinking man can read this book without realizing
that the relations of all mankind to society ana TO
their governments have been changed, past recall
II not almost past belief, by the events of which
Mr.. Blaine was part and now so instructvely
speaks Containing only selection of speeches
and papers By Mr. Blaine himself, II
might yet have bsea callsd tho third volume OF
his great history for IL the impartial tone OF the
historian Is Wanting there Is freshness and vivid
ness In the portrayal Of events and OF contests
which the narrator rarely attans. series at pho
tographs would be the best of histories in some re-
spects il they were only frequent enough This
volume, which revtves the mental photographs
made at the time by of the brightest and strong
est men of his age shows passing events-sccial po-
litical and financial problems and the clash Of OPP
posing ideas respecting esohjust rs they appeared
when actors now departed and Issues now dead had
life aud blood IN them and shook tho earth with
their tread.
What wonderful world-creating age it has
been will be the thought with which readers rise
from the perusal of this volume. In what other
age of oil human history has there been so much of
devotion and of grandeur such thoughts embst-
tied, such armies marshalled such uplifting of
millions and breaking of barriers, such changes
in the maps Of continents such play Of forces,
worldwide in their influence, beside which light
ning is impotenti In the fret speech of the vol
ume o young man of twenty six reports to citizens
who had made him their delegate in the first Ma
tional convention of the Republican party, and
describes that marvellous event, unprecedented In
anany of its mere honorable phases the birth of an
organization which was to rule the Nation and by
ITS influence to alter the history of man.
kind. Born with one idea, the party failed
until it grasped second, or rather
q broader conception of its first; at the outset
tho foe of slavery, it became the embodiment.
champion and protector of free labor and then it
triumphed. Mr.. Blaine's second speech photographs
the industrial distress which proved the falsity of
trade theories aud closed forever for this Ma
ton the experiment of free trade. His recital or
the causes which had contributed to produce a
seeming prosperty-the Mexican war, the Irish
famine the revolutions in Europe the discovery of
gold and the Crimean war-and of the closing and
bankruptcy of two-thlrds of the iron furnaces in
Pennsylvania shows with startling dstlnctness
what unparalleled advantages false policy made
barren to us. The next speech disc!Oses mighty
free nation assaulted by the slave-holding free-trad
era who could rule it no longer and fighting with
desperate energy to save itself fourth depicts
with singular forest ght, then shared by few ex-
perienced fnanciers the success of the Nation IN
bearing and paying its war debt The next pho
tographs. the struggle of Mcclellan and his Peace l
Democracy to arrest the Nations march toward
victory, and another. in the year. paints the
frantic excitement of the gold room, and the
scarcely less crazy efforts Of legislators to make
gold, silver and paper equal by law.
Then comes the period of reconstruction, task
which the civilized world prom ounced impossible,
and which presented graver and darker prob
lens for this country than foreigners or defeated
Southerners could comprehend, Mr. Blaine pho
tographed public opinion accurately, in describing
the singnlarly generous plan of reconstruction
first offered, and predicted that If that plan
should be rejected the Nation would find itself
forced IN self defence to arm the negro with the
ballot speech of remarkable completeness and
power treats of Pendletonsm aud Butlerism,
and counsels the Nation that there is honor
able way to reduce the interest on the bonds. by
raising the credit of the Government How strange
it seems that any one should have doubted it,
now look back and yet there are statesmen to-day
quite as shortighted in their shallow appeals to
popular Jusb utIt, Us ShllItu painter
puts in few human figures by which the eye may
measure the height of the cliff, the unprecedented
power attained by Mr.. Burlingame in China comes
in 10 illustrate the mental stature of Republican
leaders of whom he was not among the greatest,
though IN Mr.. Blaines discriminating and kindly
portrature he appears one Of the brightest
Mr.. Blane's picture of the contest of 1872 is not
free from mistakes, but it puts in the strongest
light the vital fact upon which that contest
turned, namely, the absolute and shameless insin-
certify of the Democrats in accepting not only Mr..
Greeley himself as their candidate but the un-
equivoca declaration of Republican principles
framed by his supporters Mr.. Blaine, in the heat
of the struggle, had no harsh words for Mr. Greeley
and he declared that So The two conventions that
had nominated Mr.. Greeley had practically copied
the Republican platform" except as to the tariff.
Bl he absolutely spurns the declaration, by Demo-
Gratis who had been depriving colored voters of
theiI rights for four years, that they would
"metJ cut equal and exact justice to all, of
whatever nativity, race, color or persuasion,
religio, and political" y; the declaration by Con-
federates that no act of theirs should ever de-
tract from the fame of the doyal victors or the
full reward of their patriotism" and tho declara-
ton of regulators that they denounced repuGia-
ton in every form and guise" The people also re-
fused to believe the honesty of these professions
and the whole history of the Democratic party from
that day to this has been proof that Ii deliberately
falsi6ed, as a body, when it adopted Mr.. Greeley
and his platform.
Respecting the tariff question. Mr. Blaine's
speech of 1874 was singularly prophetic in char
acter, especially as to relations with Canada In
the same year, another phase of the Nations growth
was pictured in speech on municipal debts, which
was so striking and forcible that II probably
contributed much to the public reaction against
that evil Nor would the history of that period be
complete without Mr.. Blaine's mastery speech re-
garding Ku-Klux murders at the South, III which
he says page 143
I hold In my hand official report made by q select
committee Of both branches OF Congress- and md that
the Union men, both black and white, murdered In the
South since the closed, greater number than
those who lost their lives In the Mexican in the
war of 1912 combined More men have been wounded
In the South than wounded In the Mexican and
In he OF 1872.